Lloyd Eisler
Lloyd Edgar Eisler, MSM is a former Canadian pair skater. With partner Isabelle Brasseur, he is the 1992 and 1994 Olympic bronze medallist and the 1993 World Champion.
Early partnerships and success
Eisler had first competed with Lori Baier. They won 3 consecutive World Championship silver medals from 1980-1982 and competed at the 1982 World Figure Skating Championships, finishing in 9th place.He then teamed up with Katherina Matousek and competed with her at the 1984 Winter Olympics, in which they finished in eighth place. They competed in three consecutive Worlds from 83-85, and won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in both 1984 and 1985. Their career highlight however was a bronze medal at the 1985 World Figure Skating Championships. Katerina then retired from the sport.
Starting with Brasseur in 87-89
Lloyd competed with Karen Westby in 1986 and won a bronze medal at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships, missing out on the World team by 1 spot. At the time there was strong speculation of Lloyd retiring.He partnered with Isabelle Brasseur in 1987. They qualified for a first Olympics and Worlds in 1988. They became Canadian Champions in 1989 and went into the World Figure Skating Championships in Paris with high hopes of a medal in a weak and wide open field, but placed a disappointing 7th after two subpar error filled performances.
Breakthrough 1990
They had a disastrous performance in defense of their Canadian title in 1990, barely taking third place and qualifying for the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships by 1 judge over 4th-place finishers Michelle Menzies and Kevin Wheeler. They had said after they likely would have retired had they missed the World team.With few expectations they went out relaxed for the short program of the 1990 World Figure Skating Championships in Halifax. A clean short program put them in 4th place. An inspired long program which some thought should have won the gold medal, took them to a highly surprising silver medal, losing the long program portion to Gordeeva and Grinkov on a 5-4 split.
1991-1992
Brasseur & Eisler regained their Canadian title and went into the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships as the favorite. They handily won the short program but the inspired free program by Miskutienok & Dmitriev to Franz Liszt's Liebesträume, combined with a costly singled double axel by Lloyd Eisler, would deprive them of gold, again winning silver, losing on a 7-2 judges split.After a spectacular long program at the 1992 Canadian Figure Skating Championships Brasseur & Eisler went in with high hopes of gold at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Their main competition was again expected to be Miskutienok & Dmitriev. Despite a fall by Isabelle on the side by side double axels in the short program, they were protected by the judges and placed 3rd above top teams who had clean short programs such as Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, putting them in position to automatically win gold if they should win the long program. Their long program was filled with major errors, including 2 falls and two other two footed landings, and they were awarded a controversial bronze medal on a 5-4 split ahead of the Czech team of Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny.
At the 1992 World Figure Skating Championships in Oakland, California they delivered a clean and spectacular short program to place a close 2nd, but again a flawed long program which featured 2 falls, again holding on for a bronze medal. Isabelle considered retirement post event but they would continue.
Finally world champions
Despite an inconsistent season, with the retirement of Miskutienok & Dmitriev, and the disastrous season of world silver medallists Radka Kovarikova & Rene Novotny, Brasseur & Eisler went into the 1993 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czech Republic as the favorites. They won both the short program in a tight decision over Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, while two of the favorites- European Champions Marina Eltsova and Andrei Bushkov and hometown favorites Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novtony, took themselves out of the running with major errors, in 5th and 6th place. A spectacular long program followed by a mistake by Shishkova and Naumov on the side by side triple toes ensured their long-awaited worlds victory, gaining the 1st place vote of all 9 judges. They were praised for massive artistic improvements in their skating to go along with their renowned technical strength.Last amateur year 1994
Despite being world champions Brasseur and Eisler became the underdogs with the reinstatement of 2 legendary former Olympic Champions, Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov, and their longtime arch rivals Natalia Miskutienok & Artur Dmitriev. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway they made a strong bid for gold with clean short and long programs, but in a spectacularly skated event which many deemed the best in history, barely were able to fend off the young Russian team of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, for the bronze medal, gaining it on a 5-4 split.They competed at the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships in Chiba, Japan injured, and bravely fought to win a silver medal in their last ever amateur outing.
Throughout their amateur career Brasseur and Eisler were known as the team with the strongest lifts in the world and arguably the strongest double and triple twists in the world. They were noted particularly for a lift in which Eisler lifted Brasseur up with one arm. Other pairs had lifts in which the male lifted the female with both hands and would then let go with one, but theirs was unique in his lifting her without ever touching her with the second hand.
Professional career
Brasseur and Eisler had a distinguished professional career, winning many events, although they were never able to place higher than runner up at the two most prominent events - the World Professional Championships in Landover, Maryland, and the Challenge of Champions. They became huge fan favorites with many inventive routines, including their gender-reversal routine to Chris De Burgh's "Patricia the Stripper."They also were popular show skaters, particularly in Canadian Stars on Ice and Champions on Ice for many years.
Post-competitive career
In 2004, Eisler was involved in starting the Skaters High Achievement Readiness Program at the West Kingston Skating Club in Kingston, Ontario; he resigned as director in January 2006.Effective October 6, 2006, Eisler was suspended from coaching in Canada for a one-year period by Skate Canada after allegedly sending sexually suggestive e-mails to his 15-year-old student. At the time of the ban, Eisler was coaching in California, where the Canadian ban did not apply. He did not appeal the ban. No criminal charges were ever filed.
Eisler is director of skating operations at the L.A. Kings Valley Ice Center in Panorama City, Los Angeles.
Personal life
Eisler was born in Seaforth, Ontario, Canada. Eisler has two sons, Ethan and Seth, from his marriage to Marcia O'Brien Eisler. He appeared in the 2006 FOX television program Skating with Celebrities in which he was partnered with actress Kristy Swanson.Eisler began a relationship with Swanson during the show. On February 16, 2007, Swanson gave birth to Eisler's son Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler. They married on February 7, 2009, in San Luis Obispo.